News

The Las Vegas Convention Center, where all of the big action happens, experienced a power outage starting at 11:14am PT today. The North and Central Halls, which house exhibits by Sony, LG, Samsung, and Intel were in the dark and word is power is only now being restored to the Central Hall.

With heavy hearts, we regret to inform you that Charles Hansen, founder of Ayre Acoustics, has passed away on November 28th, 2017. Those who knew Charley knew that he was a passionate man who always stood up for what he believed to be right. His family knew him as a loving and dedicated father of his two children. With the passing of Charley, the world has lost one of the most creative and innovative minds in the audio industry and we have lost a good friend.

While we can never replace Charley, his spirit lives on in the team at Ayre. We are dedicated to continuing his mission of creating and manufacturing the best sounding audio equipment in the world. Most importantly, we will be there for our friends, partners, and customers who have supported us over the years. If you have any questions, please feel free to call us at any time.

We wish you all the best over the holidays, and please play an album for Charley sometime.

Why am I covering the release of the new McIntosh MHA50 Portable Decoding Amplifier? A few reasons; 1) McIntosh is one brand that sells itself because it has the best brand recognition in the industry (think blue glow), 2) Most people like to buy things that they find attractive (there's nothing wrong with that, even in hi-fi), and 3) We tend to ignore these 2 very important things.

Imagine if everyone attending next week's Rocky Mountain Audio Fest was stoned? Mellow, happy pot-smoking people wandering from room to room enjoying the crap out of music then heading down to the bar for some munchies and laughs? If the exhibitors partook too, and why not, my guess is we wouldn't hear any audiophile music at all; instead we'd be treated to the music people actually love. A party!

STUTTGART, Germany, Sept. 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Mercedes-Benz and global music and entertainment platform, TIDAL, have announced a long-term partnership – in the next few months, Mercedes-Benz customers that have connected their car to the Mercedes me Portal will be able to access a complimentary TIDAL HiFi membership.
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Starting from 2018 all Mercedes me customers are provided with a free 12-month subscription in hi-fi streaming quality. After that complimentary trial, customers can continue to use the TIDAL subscription to access albums, live streams, and Tidal X concerts for €9.99 (premium quality) or €19.99 (hi-fi quality).